Is There an Anejo Rum Style?

By this I mean, do people interested in rum think there is an international anejo style? So far I have had two anejo rums, made relatively far afield: Havana Club's Anejo from Cuba, sourced in Ontario, and one bought in Miami, Ron Abuelo Anejo from Panama. I really like both and they seem quite similar yet with some differences. There seems a hazelnut-like quality to both of them, or perhaps cocoa-like is a better term (aromatic cocoa) with a tangy but tamed cane undertone. Both are blends of different ages with no age statement shown. Abuelo's anejo is paler than the Cuban one and perhaps a tad sweeter but there is something that unites them (beyond the values common to all rum or even all amber rum). I wonder if a common blending style has worked its way around the Islands and adjoining or outlying nations who distill rum.

Gary

P.S. I saw an Anejo sold here (Miami) from Bacardi, made in Mexico of course, but did not try it. Would it be similar to those mentioned above?

Re: Is There an Anejo Rum Style?

The short answer is no, but the article linked above give a great deal more information than I could easily summarize. Cigar Aficionado's website has quite a bit of good reading on rum if you search, but that article's the most complete resource I've seen online.

There are obviously many factors at work (not least of which is the different climates of areas where the rum is aged), but the article in particular gets at the stylistic variations from one region/island to another.

In addition, in a thread from a cigar forum that I can't link to from here, there is a good discussio of the variations in terms of pot vs. column stills. Barbados (Mt. Gay is the most widely available and possibly the oldest distiller available statewide), Guyana, and Martinique brands typically use both. Most other islands/regions use column stills. The exceptions (generally) are Haiti and Jamaica. The result of pot stills couple with additional aging makes their anejos more full-bodied. They also tend to distill to a lower proof, retaining more cogeners.

That said, I've not sampled nearly the variety of rums (especially anejo) discussed in the article, but there is not (to my palate) the range of flavors and variation found in whisk(e)y of any kind.

Re: Is There an Anejo Rum Style?

At Miami airport flying home today I did try Bacardi Anejo, at the Bacardi rum bar (there is one in Toronto's airport too and no doubt in others).

I found it similar to the other two anejo rums I mentioned, but not quite as good. It seemed more standardised, more bland although I still liked it.

Anejo means aged, yes, but the term has I think a more specific meaning in that it also refers (in the bottles I tried anyway) to a blend of rums of different ages with no age statement shown on the bottle. At the Miami Bacardi bar, they had white Bacardi, the regular gold-colored one, the anejo, an 8 year old Bacardi and a series of flavored white rums.

Based on tasting 3 anejos, I wonder if despite the fact that there are differences in the flavors of the underlying rums and that producers may not be consciously following a fixed style, there is emerging a style of rum with commonalities. This would offer a well-knitted, cocoa-like flavor (neither "gold" nor "molasses dark") achieved by blending different ages.

Re: Is There an Anejo Rum Style?

Thanks, I did not know that, I wonder if that is so in each rum-producing country. If not, it would lessen the argument that a common style is emerging. Still, I was struck by the seeming "anejo" profile described earlier (admittedly based on a small sample!).

Re: Is There an Anejo Rum Style?

Actually Anejo (Old) is a rather slippery term. Anything over a year can qualify but many producers will state somewhere (on a bottle or website) the age of a anejo. To further complicate things many are blends of different anejo rums from the same distillery, and yes, they tend to blend to specific profiles (one reason Bacardi tastes the way it does) so there are no surprises year to year -much the way many bourbon distilleries blend barrels.I have one bottle that is a blend of 4 different outstanding vintages from the 1950's as an extreme example of age,however most anejos tend to be at least 5 and usually 7-12 years old (remember the youngest in the blend is the age statement too so you will have older ones in there too).
Each island,country,etc., have very different styles (my personal favorites tend to be Venezuelan like Anejo Reserva Diplomatico or Pampero Annaviserio).
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Re: Is There an Anejo Rum Style?

Good article in that the Cigar Aficionado website.

Interesting how many parallels there are with whisky production in Canada (the idea of blending low and high proof spirits, or adding back flavor after the impurities have been removed by a prolonged column distillation, etc.).

Although I know only a little about rum I find myself in disagreement however with some of what is said. I don't find national rum styles differ dramatically or even notably, for example. True, there are different flavors, but within an overall context.

These producers perhaps would be horrified when I mix 50 different rums but actually I get very good results.

I find Cuba rums not particularly light although my experience is limited mostly to Havana Club rums, so perhaps I should not say.

Nor does any rum remind me of "Irish whiskey".

I take the point though about the diversity of production practices. Although not mentioned in the article, I understand e.g. in some places they age rums in oak and then take the color out to appeal to the market for white rum yet give it sufficient body and smoothness.

I liked the point made about the value of one story warehouses (used of course in KY by Four Roses).

I will continue trying different anejos, i.e., ones which do not advertise an age expression, since I see the term can be used with an age-denominated rum.